Why ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Is a Much-Needed Hit for Fox

As the final days of 20th Century Fox’s status as a standalone studio countdown and the merger with Disney draws near, “Bohemian Rhapsody” has provided Fox with a much needed hit.

Despite mixed reviews, the Queen biopic from New Regency is on its way to being a hit with a $51.1 million opening and $141 million grossed worldwide. Fox reports that it ranks among the studio’s top 10 highest openings for a non-franchise film, and it’s the biggest opening weekend for the studio since the release of “Deadpool 2” nearly six months ago.

“Deadpool 2” was able to capitalize off of the rabid demand for superheroes — and especially Marvel superheroes — to the tune of $318 million at the domestic box office. But prior to this weekend, that total accounted for 38 percent of Fox’s entire domestic gross for the year. Add the $205 million made by Fox’s hit holiday films “The Greatest Showman” and “The Post” in January, and you have three films accounting for 63 percent of Fox’s $831 million domestic total.

Aside from those films, success has been scarce for Fox this year. Socially minded, low-budget films like “The Hate U Give” and “Love Simon” have made modest profits, but Fox has also had some big misfires, like the $88 million “The Predator,” which has only grossed $159 million, and the $32 million “Bad Times at the El Royale,” which hasn’t even made back its budget with $27 million grossed. Another domestic disappointment for the studio was the $62 million “Maze Runner: The Death Cure,” which only grossed $58 million in North America and needed a $230 million overseas haul to find a profit.

Fox has passed $1 billion domestically for 11 of the past 12 years, only barely missing in 2011 with $977 million and peaking in 2014 with $1.79 billion, best among all studios. But with “Bohemian Rhapsody” being the last major release for Fox this year, the studio could fall short of that mark as it currently ranks fifth among all studios on the domestic charts, with Sony overtaking them for fourth.

But the good news is that “Bohemian Rhapsody” will stand out this November, as the rest of this month’s release calendar is largely highlighted by family offerings like “The Grinch” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” Chris Aronson, Fox’s domestic distribution president, said that he expects the word of mouth from Queen fans who saw the film this weekend and the awards buzz surrounding leading man Rami Malek to give the film plenty of mileage in the weeks ahead.

“We finally settled on an early November release because we wanted to give the film some space from ‘A Star Is Born,'” Aronson told TheWrap. “But when we saw the final cut we knew that like ‘A Star Is Born,’ ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was going to offer audiences a musical experience that no other film that’s coming after us is going to have.”

Fox will close out the year with a yet-to-be-announced “Deadpool” release at Christmastime, ending what has been a rocky final chapter for one of Hollywood’s biggest mainstays. But Aronson says that “Bohemian Rhapsody” has been a proud accomplishment for him and his colleagues, as the film has navigated a turbulent development to join “Straight Outta Compton” as one of the biggest openings ever for a musical biopic.

“No matter what, this is a big win for us and a validation for the process that we went through releasing this film,” he said. “And I want to give extra kudos to the film’s producer, Graham King, who dedicated himself for years to getting this film out, and now all his hard work has really paid off.”

'Bohemian Rhapsody:' A History of Making the Freddie Mercury Biopic (Photos)

Mamma Mia Figaro! We've been anticipating a movie about the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury for the last seven years -- when it looked like Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, might play the flamboyant singer. And at long last, we got images from the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" signaling it would finally come to pass. To add to the turmoil, Bryan Singer was even fired from the film. But the film finally opens on Nov. 2. Here's a brief history of the long road the film has taken to get made.

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September 2010

Sacha Baron Cohen, a spitting image of Mercury, is locked in to play Freddie Mercury in the untitled film written by “Frost/Nixon” scribe Peter Morgan, with Graham King, Tim Headington, Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal all attached to produce. Supposedly the film would not focus on Mercury’s battle with AIDS and would culminate in Queen’s 1985 appearance at Live Aid, six years before he died. The producers had also secured the rights to many of Queen’s hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions” and “Another One Bites the Dust.”

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May 2012

Stephen Frears is reported as the frontrunner for the directing job on the still untitled biopic, but other directors names are still in the mix. Frears would later address his brief involvement on the film, telling The Wrap that he had met with Baron Cohen and expected to hear more, but then read that Baron Cohen had a falling out with Queen’s Brian May.

Photo by David Buchan/Getty Images For TheWrap

July 2013

Sacha Baron Cohen exits the project over creative differences; Cohen wanted a warts-and-all portrayal of Mercury’s life, while the band members wanted a more reverential portrait of themselves, even going as far as to refuse “A King’s Speech” director Tom Hooper (pictured) for the job.

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September 2013

Writer Peter Morgan told the BBC that the project was “probably not going to happen,” but that was quickly disputed when the producers said it was “still very much alive.”

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December 2013

Queen’s first choice for Mercury circa 2013 is Ben Whishaw, who had recently played Q in the Daniel Craig James Bond films. He's paired with director Dexter Fletcher, who directed the musical “Sunshine on Leith.” Queen also weighed in on why they felt Baron Cohen wasn’t right for the part. “We thought there has to be no distraction in the Freddie movie. You have to really suspend that disbelief – the man who plays Freddie, you have to really believe is Freddie. And we didn’t [think] that could really happen with Sacha.”

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December 2013

“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe shoots down “ridiculous” rumors that he would be playing Mercury in the film, following a Daily Mail report.

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March 2014

Another one bites the dust. Fletcher also departs the project over creative differences, again tied to a difference in opinion over whether to make the film R-rated or a more sanitized portrait of the band.

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November 2015

“The Theory of Everything” scribe Anthony McCarten is hired to rewrite Morgan’s initial script, and the studio starts toying with the idea of “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the film’s official title. While Whishaw’s name is still at the top of the list to play Mercury, he doesn’t have a deal in place.

Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto

March 2016

Speaking with Howard Stern, Sacha Baron Cohen revealed he “should’ve listened to the warning bells” when he claims the band envisioned Mercury dying midway through the movie and then carrying on to see the band overcome that adversity.

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April 2016

Queen’s Brian May fires back at Baron Cohen’s Howard Stern interview, telling the Daily Mail “Sacha became an a---,” even disputing Cohen’s take that they wanted to make a more PG biopic. "Why would he go away and say that we didn’t want to make a gritty film?" May said. "Are we the kind of people who have ever ducked from the truth? I don’t think so."

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November 2016

“Mr. Robot’s” Rami Malek is the latest to step into the role of Freddie Mercury with Bryan Singer attached to direct.

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September 2017

We finally get the first look at Malek as Mercury, and he looks stunning, bearing an uncanny resemblance of Mercury at Queen’s 1985 Live Aid concert. Malek also revealed that he would be singing in the film with a mix of Mercury’s own voice and was recording in Abbey Road studios. Aidan Gillen and Tom Hollander also round out the film's cast.

Entertainment Weekly

December 2017

Production halts on “Bohemian Rhapsody” due to Singer’s “unexpected unavailability,” which he said regarded a personal health matter. Days later, Fox fires Singer from the film just weeks away from wrapping production, and it’s still slated for release in December of 2018. Fox additionally closes Singer’s offices on their lot, and Singer claims he was fired because the studio wouldn’t give him time to care for a sick parent.

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December 2017

Dexter Fletcher is hired to replace Singer on the project after originally leaving the film back in March of 2014. Singer additionally told TMZ he had “no beef” with the studios or with star Rami Malek, and he spoke kindly about his replacement on the film Dexter Fletcher, but added that, “it’s my film.”

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May 2018

Fox releases the first teaser trailer for "Bohemian Rhapsody." The film was pushed to Nov. 2, 2018 in March of that year. The teaser is a glossy look at the band's rise to stardom, but it's criticized for "hetero-washing" Mercury's gay identity and for saying Mercury died of a "life-threatening illness" instead of openly saying he died of AIDS.

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November 2018

The movie finally opens in theaters -- with Rami Malek winning high praise for his performance (if not for the prosthetic teeth he uses to mimic Mercury's famous overbite). But reviews are overall tepid, with the film garnering a weak 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes on opening day.

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From Sacha Baron Cohen’s exit to Bryan Singer’s firing, the hectic story of the upcoming Queen movie

Mamma Mia Figaro! We've been anticipating a movie about the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury for the last seven years -- when it looked like Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, might play the flamboyant singer. And at long last, we got images from the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" signaling it would finally come to pass. To add to the turmoil, Bryan Singer was even fired from the film. But the film finally opens on Nov. 2. Here's a brief history of the long road the film has taken to get made.